Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters


The pitter-patter of raindrops could be heard outside, the only sound in the apartment aside from a ticking clock, turning pages, and cloth wiping against metal. It was just an ordinary, lazy day—a rare occurrence for both the ferry girl and fire demon. Botan sighed as she stretched back against the couch. She was enjoying her day off from ferrying.

Like clockwork, Hiei arrived in the morning, walked out of his room silently, his presence 'announced'. Botan stopped being surprised by his impromptu visits. She even took the liberty of changing his sheets and dusting out the vacant room when she awoke to the sound of thunder. The storm was vicious, too tumultuous for her to dare to fly. She alerted Koenma that she would be staying in. Then, she went about her business knowing Hiei would show up eventually.

When Hiei reached the apartment, he quickly flitted into the tree beside the guest bedroom window. As he expected, the window was unlocked, and entering was hardly an issue. Once inside, he got out of his wet garments, tossed them into a balled pile with his wet boots. There were spare clothes in the closet, human apparel, but the clothing reflected his tastes. His mouth pressed into a firm line, still wary of the reasons for the woman's misplaced kindness.

He settled for a pair of gray sweats and a black t-shirt, and then exited the room and found the woman humming along in the kitchen while she washed dishes. She wore one of her obnoxiously colored pajama bottoms with one of her sinfully tight spaghetti strap tops. Hiei grimaced but approached the woman anyway. His eyes found their way to the two plates of pancakes on the table, and he felt an odd sensation of satisfaction at the thought that the ferry girl was preparing for his arrival. It was their unspoken rule that he would need shelter whenever he was visiting the human world and the weather turned sour. Of course, she didn't know that Hiei had been in Human World for no other reason than he knew it would rain.

The woman turned to face him and flashed him another of her luminous smiles. She attempted to engage him in some sort of conversation before the two ate their breakfast. Listening to her prattle on each time he arrived was something the fire demon had grown accustomed to, and though he barely answered back, the ferry girl didn't seem to mind.

It was like that all day, though they fell into a comfortable silence. After Botan cleaned up, the two found themselves settled in the living room. Hiei took to polishing his sword, his focus on the blade. Botan read her new mystery thriller, one that Shizuru recommended to her. Neither felt compelled to do much, even if Botan was normally quite the chatty one. Honestly, they were both content with the peaceful ambience of the room. The meditative sound of the rain filled the stillness.